


Earned Place

by WolfenM



Series: Hidden Things [6]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: War of the Damned
Genre: Character Study, Episode Tag, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Introspection, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-29
Updated: 2013-01-29
Packaged: 2017-11-27 11:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfenM/pseuds/WolfenM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Months after the battle of Vesuvius, the rebels have formed a massive army -- and Nasir, having grown as a fighter, has found his footing amongst them. Meanwhile, his and Agron's love  has only grown ....  This fic offers some missing moments from "Enemies of Rome", as well as introspection during scenes in the ep, and close-ups of background moments.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Earned Place

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoilers:** All the _Spartacus_ episodes up through _Spartacus: War of the Damned_ , ep 1, "Enemies of Rome"  
>  **Notes:** While it's part of the Hidden Things series, this fic can be read without reading any of the other installments.  
>  **DISCLAIMER:** Agron, Nasir, Lugo, Nemetes, Donar, and the depiction of Spartacus, Crixus, and Gannicus as in the _Spartacus_ series, all © Starz. This is just fanfiction, not an official story for the series, and no profit is being made by the author.

c=====================>>>  
"Ready?" Agron asked, a manic light in his eyes, sword already dripping with blood. 

The Syrian raised his spear, nodding, tensing for the next sally. The signal was given, and as he surged forward beside his beloved and their friends, blood pounding, some part of him wondered if it was madness that he felt so happy in that moment.

Catching his breath a short while later, feeling considerably more grim than he had during the charge, Nasir heard the Romans sound their retreat. He made sure his latest opponent was dead, saying a quick internal apology to the man. Agron would probably think him foolish for it, but Nasir didn't ever want killing to be easy, or his sword to grow lighter with each life he took. Granted, he wouldn't hesitate to kill as needed, no. His own life and the lives of his beloved and their friends, and the lives of innocents -- those lives took precedence over that of his enemies. It was kill or be killed. But he also couldn't forget how, once upon a time, he _would_ have killed Spartacus, the very man who had saved him from slavery, because he hadn't been able to see beyond the only life he'd ever known.

How many of the soldiers Nasir had killed were men who just hadn't been shown another way? How many of them only knew the rhetoric they'd been raised under, the one that said slaves had a place, and just hadn't considered that it might not be true? There were certain things in life you didn't question: the sun rises and sets. The gods made some men to rule and others to _be_ ruled. How dare anyone question the will of the gods?

Maybe no one had dared suggest to these other soldiers that the people who supposedly spoke for the gods were just men themselves. Maybe no one had dared, as Spartacus had, to suggest the gods did not exist at all. Maybe they had never seen Spartacus make miracles happen, miracles that suggested that if the gods did exist, they were on the side of the rebels, not the Romans. And so these men, these soldiers of Rome, had been misled to their deaths. Nasir wouldn't spare them, but he could pity them. 

Even as he hated them for what they stood and fought for. Even as he let that hate give him the strength and fury to deliver the killing blow.

When Crixus bellowed the news of the enemy's retreat to Spartacus, like the rest of the rebels, Nasir cheered. He did so with pride for himself and his compatriots, yes, but was also cheering for the simple fact that it was _over_ (for the moment). No more killing to be done -- and, better still, no more worrying for the fate of his beloved. Agron was standing there, just yards away, grinning fiercely in that way that made Nasir growl hungrily for what the night might bring. Nasir's cheer was as much a cry of joy at the sight of his lover alive as it was a cry of victory.

He wasn't so sure that Agron's own roar held the same meaning, what with the tendency for Agron's mind to get lost in the heat of battle and bloodlust, but Nasir didn't really care. It was enough that after a battle, once their eyes met, Agron had eyes for nothing and no one else until they touched again. There was no doubting the love in Agron's gaze, and even if Nasir did doubt, everyone around them was fond of pointing out their love. Nothing could be observed by so many and not be true.

When they were finally in reach of one another, Nasir slipped his hand around the back of Agron's neck, drawing him close. They touched brows, the contact sending warmth down Nasir's spine. Anything more intimate than that would have them rutting right there in the field! But even that chaste contact made Nasir's heart ache pleasantly. And the sight of so many friends still standing as he greeted them in turn just made his heart swell all the more.

c=====================>>>  
"Are you sure?" Agron asked Nasir as they slowly undressed each other.

Agron, Nasir knew, preferred to top, so Nasir understood how his man believed it a sweet gesture to offer to bottom. And Nasir _did_ appreciate such an offer -- even welcomed it at times.

The post-battle glow, though, was _not_ one of those times.

"I am," Nasir promised. "I like how fierce you are after battle," he elaborated, nipping Agron's shoulder for emphasis.

Nasir loved how Agron slammed into him with his full weight, the German's passion a mirror for the bloodlust of the battlefield. Besides loving the force of impact, the repeated reminder that they were alive and together and could never be close enough, Nasir saw it as a matter of pride that, despite his smaller size, he could not only withstand the brute force of his giant of a lover, but also _enjoy_ it. No one doubted that the pair lie together after every battle, and no one was foolish enough to doubt Agron's strength; therefore, when Nasir was still walking fine the day after such a night, the kind where their cries of passion shattered the evening peace, it was a testament to Nasir's _own_ strength (and endurance), having survived a second "battle" on a day when so many Romans hadn't survived even one.

And yet, for all his energetic lovemaking, Agron was sweet and gentle and generous with his kisses after they climaxed. None, Nasir thought, would have imagined Agron to ever be so tender short of witnessing it with their own eyes. And true, some had witnessed so at times, when Agron kissed him in public -- but Nasir treasured the knowledge that he was the only one who ever be on the receiving end of that softness.

And then Agron surprised him with sweet words as well, praising Nasir for his prowess in the battlefield. Nasir found himself both pleased and stung by the praise -- had Agron doubted his ability? He asked as much, and was rewarded with the affirmation that Agron had _always_ believed in him.

Between a hard day's battle and the current peace of his heart, Nasir slept soundly in his Agron's arms.

c=====================>>>  
"Why don't you test this lot?" Agron suggested the next day as they went to inspect the new recruits. "Then I can study them."

Nasir fought against a grin and won, simply nodding and grunting affirmation. This was, he reckoned, Agron's way of apologising for making it seem as though he might have doubted Nasir's skills on the battlefield. Not even Agron would use him to test the newcomers if he didn't think Nasir had the skill to truly challenge them to their utmost -- it was too important to Spartacus to know how the newest rebels would fare in battle, and whether any were of great skill!

Nasir's pride swelled as he heard Nemetes observe to Agron that he grew fiercer by the day -- pleased as much by the proud, possessive light the words stoked in Agron's eyes as by the words themselves. 

Oddly, Nasir's pride swelled more still as Lugo joked that soon even he would fear to call him "Little Man." Nasir had found, as time had passed, that such barbs were now blunted, lobbed with affection -- and, in this case, backed by respect.

Moreover, he'd learned to return the "kindness". Crixus had himself had remarked to Spartacus after receiving a well-honed teasing from Nasir, that Nasir must have kept Agron's tongue in his mouth after kissing him, because he was starting to get mouthy like him. Nasir took it as a high compliment, even if he was pretty sure Crixus hadn't meant it that way.

After paying Lugo back, Nasir took a quick peck from his beloved as a reward before moving on to face the next opponent. As he made short work of the new recruits, the cheers of the crowd fed his ego, assuring him that he had become a capable fighter. His ego's appetite was curbed, however, when he caught the words of Spartacus pointing out to Agron that they had all started out as incompetently as these newcomers. Nasir was humbled and grateful for the reminder -- it was very possible that, with training, any one of these men could surpass his skill!

"It is not fair that we are pitted against gladiator!" he then heard one of his defeated opponents complain.

Nasir thought back to when Spartacus had cauterized his wound, how Nasir had wondered if it would make him a gladiator. He thought himself foolish now for thinking so, as his skill then wasn't much better than that of these men now. "I have never set foot in arena," he told the man.

"Aye, but spirit remains same," Donar weighed in. "I dare say you would hold your own, were you to step upon those sands now, for _battlefield_ is _your_ arena -- a far more vast and dangerous one than those in ludus ever face whilst still enslaved." Donar turned to the man who'd voiced the complaint. "The Romans will not coddle you out there; we'd do you no favour by doing so here. Be glad to face their betters now -- it will increase your odds of survival against the Romans yourself!"

And now Nasir felt a different sort of pride -- the kind that came with feeling one held worth to fellow men, having earned a place amongst them.

c=====================>>>  
"What makes you scowl so?" Nasir asked Agron as they watched the rebels mass, preparing for a mission Spartacus had left them with. "Surely you do not worry for our victory?"

"No. I am only worried for what little faith Spartacus seems to have in me, even after all this time," the German pouted.

" _Little_ faith?" Nasir half-laughed, baffled.

"It _must_ be little, for me to have been left behind!" Agron insisted.

"Would you have felt better if he had taken you with and left Crixus in your place?" Nasir chided. "Spartacus, Crixus, and Gannicus place only their lives in each other's hands, but Spartacus places lives of _all_ rebels in _yours_. And as their success may depend on distraction our army provides, they place _their_ lives in your hands as well, even if it is from far away! Spartacus trusts you to complete task with as small loss of our numbers as possible! Do not think mission entrusted to you is of any less import due to distance from his side. He honours you by trusting task to be done without his eye upon you! The same cannot be said of Gannicus," he added with a grin. "Handful as that man is, I imagine Crixus is wishing _you_ were there instead."

Nasir was gratified to see his grin returned, his beloved's smile a bright beacon that might hearten their army to see it.

Nasir's grin softened to a fond smile. "Understand, then? Your place as leader here is not punishment, but rather earned place -- just as is your place in my heart."

With a soft look in his eyes, Agron kissed Nasir, then rest his brow against the Syrian's. "And yours in mine."

~FINIS~

**Author's Note:**

> ###########  
> If you've enjoyed my writing, I invite you to explore my original fantasy storyverse, [Gaiankind](http://gaiankind.com)! You can even find Gaiankind stories for free [here](http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Gaiankind) on AO3!


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